The NFL and the NFL Players Association have agreed to a one-year experimental change to the fine schedule meant to perhaps curb player behavior and discipline that is most likely to result in injuries.
And the changes include one seemingly odd new twist: Refunds.
Club owners meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday were briefed and accepted the changes that will place greater emphasis on five player health and safety violations:
- The hip drop tackle.
- The horse collar tackle.
- Launching.
- A hit on a defenseless player.
- A blindside block.
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Like in the past, the league is prepared to take past behavior into account. That’s why players who commit three offenses in any of the highlighted categories will be suspended for one game.
But, here comes the newfangled approach: Players who commit just one violation will receive a 50 percent refund of their fine at the end of the season.
The one violation limit applies to the five categories together. So a player fined for a blindside block cannot get a refund if he’s also been fined once for a horse collar tackle. That amounts to two fines.
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The fine refunds apply to other categories of fouls as well and even to a larger degree.
Players fined once in any other player safety category, such as roughing the passer, will get 100 percent of their fine money back at season’s end if they don’t get fined again for that foul during the season. And, again, a second foul in another player safety category will mean the player gets none of his money back.
This is expected to affect hundreds of players during the 2026 season as it has in previous seasons.
This new system resembles the carrot and stick approach to fines.
Players who avoid fines or stop after only one offense are rewarded with keeping or getting money back. Repeat offenders, however, get trouble. And so do their coaches and clubs.
Repeat offenders lose all their fine money. And once they are within one point of the suspension threshold, they are subject to being called in to an official meeting with a league representative, along with members of his team’s coaching staff.
Clubs with “excessive” health and safety rules violations will also face increased financial penalties.
This system also resembles the points system drivers all over the United States must abide by for their driving record.
Everyone starts the 2026 season with a clean record.
Each offense represents one point. Again, three points will mean a suspension.
If a player has one point towards a suspension at the end of the season, he will drop to zero points entering the following season – assuming this experimental system remains or is not altered.
If a driver, rather than a player, has two points at season’s end, he’ll drop to one point.
Players who are suspended this season will enter next season two points on their record, again assuming the system remains.
“Player safety is a shared responsibility,” the joint statement from the NFL and NFLPA said. “These changes focus on the techniques that create the greatest risk while ensuring player, coach, and club accountability.
“Together we believe this approach will continue to make the game safer for all players.”
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